Delta Makes Major Move Against Southwest Airlines

Last month, Southwest Airlines announced a rather controversial change, ending its longstanding policy of free checked baggage for customers, sparking widespread criticism. Now, it looks like another airline is trying to take advantage of the disappointed and discontent Southwest customers.

As reported by  Andrea Guzmán of the Houston Chronicle, Delta Airlines is directly targeting Southwest customers by offering elite status for switching loyalty to Delta instead.

"Delta's latest promotion is geared specifically toward a group of Southwest loyalists. Ahead of the busy summer travel season, the Georgia airline announced that Southwest A-List and A-List Preferred Members can earn elite status if they switch loyalty to Delta," Guzmán wrote for the Houston Chronicle.

"How it works is that A-List Members—Southwest fliers with special perks as a thank you for flying a bunch with Southwest or collecting points—will be elevated to Delta’s Gold Medallion Status upon approval. Such status comes with benefits such as a free checked bag each way, priority security line access and priority boarding."

Delta is not the only airline that attempted to capitalize on angry Southwest customers. Shortly after Southwest announced its controversial change, Frontier Airlines announced a promotion offering customers a package that included free checked baggage.

Southwest has received a lot of criticism for its decision to end its policy of free checked baggage, and the company's overall logistics and aircraft design will make the change rather difficult at an operational level.

Still, the airline has stuck by the change and has remained insistent that it will move forward with the new policy no matter how much criticism the company receives from angry customers on social media.